This paper presents a definition and framework for a novel type of adaptive data network: the cognitive network. In a cognitive network, the collection of elements that make up the network observes network conditions and then, using prior knowledge gained from previous interactions with the network, plans, decides and acts on this information. Cognitive networks are different from other "intelligent" communication technologies because these actions are taken with respect to the end-to-end goals of a data flow. In addition to the cognitive aspects of the network, a specification language is needed to translate the user's end-to-end goals into a form understandable by the cognitive process. The cognitive network also depends on a software adaptable network that has both an external interface accessible to the cognitive network and network status sensors. These devices are used to provide control and feedback. The paper concludes by presenting a simple case study to illustrate a cognitive network and its framework

Cognitive networks

A method, system, server architecture and/or tangible medium upgrade and award admittance of events to an event customer, preferably via a data communication network. The method includes, for example, receiving a communication from the event customer, the communication including a request to obtain admittance to at least one event, the communication also including an identifier associated with the event customer, admitting the event customer at the point of sale system after verification of the request, and updating a database indicating that the request was processed. The method also includes determining first predetermined criteria associated with the event indicative of at least one other event customer not attending the event, releasing an allocation associated with the at least one other event customer, and notifying at least another of the event customers to perform the upgrade and/or reallocation.

System and method for reallocating and/or upgrading and/or selling tickets, other event admittance means, goods and/or services

As of today, the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system has been rolled out in many countries and the number of 5G subscribers already reaches a very large scale. It is time for academia and industry to shift their attention towards the next generation. At this crossroad, an overview of the current state of the art and a vision of future communications are definitely of interest. This article thus aims to provide a comprehensive survey to draw a picture of the sixth generation (6G) system in terms of drivers, use cases, usage scenarios, requirements, key performance indicators (KPIs), architecture, and enabling technologies. First, we attempt to answer the question of "Is there any need for 6G?" by shedding light on its key driving factors, in which we predict the explosive growth of mobile traffic until 2030, and envision potential use cases and usage scenarios. Second, the technical requirements of 6G are discussed and compared with those of 5G with respect to a set of KPIs in a quantitative manner. Third, the state-of-the-art 6G research efforts and activities from representative institutions and countries are summarized, and a tentative roadmap of definition, specification, standardization, and regulation is projected. Then, we identify a dozen of potential technologies and introduce their principles, advantages, challenges, and open research issues. Finally, the conclusions are drawn to paint a picture of "What 6G may look like?". This survey is intended to serve as an enlightening guideline to spur interests and further investigations for subsequent research and development of 6G communications systems.

The Road Towards 6G: A Comprehensive Survey

Diverse proprietary network appliances increase both the capital and operational expense of service providers, meanwhile causing problems of network ossification. Network function virtualization (NFV) is proposed to address these issues by implementing network functions as pure software on commodity and general hardware. NFV allows flexible provisioning, deployment, and centralized management of virtual network functions. Integrated with SDN, the software-defined NFV architecture further offers agile traffic steering and joint optimization of network functions and resources. This architecture benefits a wide range of applications (e.g., service chaining) and is becoming the dominant form of NFV. In this survey, we present a thorough investigation of the development of NFV under the software-defined NFV architecture, with an emphasis on service chaining as its application. We first introduce the software-defined NFV architecture as the state of the art of NFV and present relationships between NFV and SDN. Then, we provide a historic view of the involvement from middlebox to NFV. Finally, we introduce significant challenges and relevant solutions of NFV, and discuss its future research directions by different application domains.

Software-Defined Network Function Virtualization: A Survey

As of today, the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system has been rolled out in many countries and the number of 5G subscribers already reaches a very large scale It is time for academia and industry to shift their attention towards the next generation At this crossroad, an overview of the current state of the art and a vision of future communications are definitely of interest This article thus aims to provide a comprehensive survey to draw a picture of the sixth generation (6G) system in terms of drivers, use cases, usage scenarios, requirements, key performance indicators (KPIs), architecture, and enabling technologies First, we attempt to answer the question of “Is there any need for 6G?” by shedding light on its key driving factors, in which we predict the explosive growth of mobile traffic until 2030, and envision potential use cases and usage scenarios Second, the technical requirements of 6G are discussed and compared with those of 5G with respect to a set of KPIs in a quantitative manner Third, the state-of-the-art 6G research efforts and activities from representative institutions and countries are summarized, and a tentative roadmap of definition, specification, standardization, and regulation is projected Then, we identify a dozen of potential technologies and introduce their principles, advantages, challenges, and open research issues Finally, the conclusions are drawn to paint a picture of “What 6G may look like?” This survey is intended to serve as an enlightening guideline to spur interests and further investigations for subsequent research and development of 6G communications systems

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This article gives an overview of the evolution in the mobile communications world. The uptake of 2G technologies has been tremendous, even though several systems exist that are not interoperable. 3G will bring some convergence, but will not achieve the goal of a single global technology. At the network level, IP is becoming more important. In hot spot environments, WLAN is bringing a complementary technology toward cellular.

Xiaofeng Xu

Papers

Mobile network evolution: a revolution on the move